Method of making dies



lJune lg, 1935.. Y R MEYERCORD 2,005,591.

METHOD OF MAKING DIES Filed May 27, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 18, 19351.. v

- v G. R. MEYERCORD METHob oF MAKING DIES Filed May 27, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 18, 1935 UNITED het??? @HQE METHOD F MAKING DIES Application May 27, 1933, Serial No. 673,175

16 Claims.

Forming dies as, for example, dies to form or mold plywood sheets or panels and leave them with smooth surfaces that require no subsequent sanding or similar treatment, are very costly when the dies are made by hand as has heretofore been the practice. The object of the present invention is to make it possible to produce such dies at a very low cost.

In carrying out my invention I make rudimentary die members in the form of rough castings of the proper shape and then sheathe the die face surface with polished metal, such as steel, in a manner that is simple and effective and insures perfect conguration of the die faces and perfect registration. By proceeding in this way, instead of being required to cut away the solid metal of a block and painstakingly finish ing the same to produce a die face, I need only fashion a properly shaped pattern of wood or other material that can be easily worked.

After the complementary rudimentary die blocks have been cast, they are forced together under heavy pressure with elements interposed between the same to complete the dies. elements comprise polished sheets of hard, ductile metal that are to serve as the actual die faces in the completed dies, together with sheets of soft metal, such as lead, interposed between the sheets of harder metal and the castings. There must be at least two of the sheets of steel or other hard metal, and there should also be between these two sheets a panel of the same thickness as the wood or other material which is to be formed by the dies. Preferably this interposed panel consists of thin sheets of steel or other hard, ductile metal. When the dies are closed, all of the sheets are deformed; the soft sheets of lead or the like being brought into intimate contact with all portions of the rough die faces in the castings, while the adjacent sheets of steel or the like follow the contours of these die faces and the additional group of sheets are pressed into the shape that will afterwards be taken by the product to be produced in the dies. The lead or other soft material serves to fill up all of the pits in the die faces of the castings and to insure an equal.- ized distribution of pressure upon the hard metal sheets in contact therewith, so that these latter sheets conform closely to the contour of the corresponding die faces without, however, being infiuenced by the surface roughness of the rudimentary die faces.

When the die blocks are separated, following the operation just described, all of the hard These metal sheets except the two that constitute the working faces of the two dies are removed and the two remaining deformed sheets are welded at their edges to their respective blocks, or are otherwise permanently secured so that they will 5 not accidentally become loose, and the dies are ready for use.

In some cases I prefer to apply the pressure in effecting the facing of the die blocks through a cushion.` Thus I may place above the upper die block and underneath the lower die block sheets of lead or the like which will permit the blocks to adjust themselves bodily as the pressure is applied, and thus insure perfect nesting or registration of the working faces. When lead pads are placed above and below the die blocks, these pads are preferably protected by sheets of steel lying,l respectively, underneath the lower pad and on top of the upper pad. When the step of pressing the assembly has been completed, the steel sheets that protect the pads underneath and above the die blocks may be welded or otherwise fastenedk at their edges or margins to their respective blocks.

My invention may be applied to advantage in the manufacture of very long dies which it would otherwise be very difficult to make and for which it might be difficult to make patterns that would not warp. In the case of extremely long dies, I propose to make two short patterns, one for each die member, and cast a sufficient number of blocks to provide the desired length of die when the blocks are placedend to end. The process of completing the long die is then the same as that which I have just described; it being understood that the various sheets that are placed between and above and below the rudimentary die members extend continuously from one end of the die to the other and therefore serve to tie together the plurality of blocks or sections of which each die is constructed. 4

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with'particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of my invention and of 4 its objects and advantages, reference may be'had tothe following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, where- Figure l' is a View, partly in elevation and partly 50 in section, showing two complementary rudimentary die blocks in a press, together with the various sheet metal elements above, below and between the blocks, preparatory to closing the press and completing the dies, the View showing the 55 plates or sheets that lie between the blocks in exploded condition; Fig. 2 is a section, on a larger scale, showing the condition after the press has been closed under heavy pressure; Fig. 3 is a view, similar to Fig. 2, showing the completed dies closed on a piece of work; Fig. 4 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, showing a dish adapted to be formed by the dies of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a transverse sectionlthrough an elongated die, showing it closed on the work; Fig. 6 is a side view, on a much smaller scale, showing the die of Fig. 5, together with the press; and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a piece of molding-which-is the product of the die shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

Referring to Figs. 1-4 ofthe-drawings, I and 2 are cast metal blocks having the form Aof having die faces of such shape as to cause themtodeform a panel on which they close and give itt-he shape j of the dish A shown in Fig. e. These blocks are as accurate in contour as ordinary castings 4may be, but are not suitable for: use intheir natural conditionbecause of` the. roughness of the surfaces thereof. It will be seen that easily made wood or other patterns are all that are required to make it possible to cast these blocks.

In carrying out my invention-inthe preferred way, I set the block I` upon the bedl or lower platenB of apress, first laying on the bed or platena thin sheet 3 of "steel upon which, in turn, is laidasheet 4 of lead or other soft metal. On topofthis die blockJ Illay a thin sheet 5 of lead or other soft metal and, on.` top. of that, I-place a polishedsheet 6'v of h'ard,l ductile steel or other suitable. metal.l These four. sheets are to forma permanent part ofthe completedfdie. On topof the plates or sheets 5 and''I. lay` a little group of "thin plates or sheets 'I'the combinedthickness ofwhich is equal to the' thickness ofthe material of the iinished .plate-like product- A. Then, upon the. sheets or'pla'tes 1`I`lay a sheet 8, similar to the sheet 5, followedby.- a sheet 91 similar, to the sheet 5l The upper block 2"is placed on top of .die face offtlfie' lower die member. contains a concavity or. depression I2, while the die face of Vthe upper die member is providedwith. a projecting boss I3`complementary, to the concavityor recess in the other member. Therefore, when the press is closed andsufficient pressure. is applied, the

stack of sheets 5 9, inclusive, will be deformed so asv to take the yshapesofiaseries ofdishes nested one within the other, as shown in Fig. 2. The soft lead sheets 5-and 9"are alsodeformed otherwise', so as to ll allofithe pits andidepressions in the faces Yof the castings andprevent-th'e adiacent hard metalplates 6"and."from being affected bythe surface roughness of the castings. Consequently, if the sheetsA 61-and8l are polished at the timethe assembly isput in the press, the surfaces thereof will remain. smooth and. polished. during the pressing. operation. andLwhen the press is opened, the die blocks are separated, and the little stack] ofsheetsisremoved, `each die block will remain :faced withaithin layer ofrleador the like overlaid.with smooth, hard,- polishedsheet material.

The soft-sheets IY-anda I I permit the dieblocks toshiftbodily to -a small degreein the`v event that one or the other block requires to tilt or otherwise shift a little in order to permit accurate nesting of the two die faces.

At any time after the press has been closed on the assembly of cast metal blocks and sheet material, as indicated in Fig. 2, the edges or marginal portions of the sheets 3, 6, 8 and I0 are welded or otherwise permanently fastened to the corresponding die blocks; whereby each die consists of a casting, two hard metal sheets and two soft metal sheets, all united into an integral structure. In Fig. 3 I have shown the hard metal sheets secured by welding, as indicated at I4.

In Fig. 7 there is illustrated a molding D consisting of a strip of plywood that has been shaped in forming dies. It'is evident that such a product may be required to be manufactured in lengths many feet long and ordinary dies for forming it are very expensive. A set of dies may be madequite cheaply in accordance with my invention. Instead, however, of making patterns the full lengthof the dies, I make only short patdie.

tains a plurality of blocks 22. The blocks of one set are preferably longer than those ofithe other so that joints will be staggered, as shown. 'I'he strips that are assoeiated with the die blocks inl building up an assembly to be squeezed in a power press are the same in number, character and disposition as in the case of the other dies, and theyl are as long as the die instead of being in'short Y lengths as are the die blocks.v In Figs. fand 6.y strips 234m, inclusive, and Eil-31, inclusive, cor-v respond to the strips 3 6, inclusive, and B-I I in elusive, in Figs. I-Ii. `The groupof temporary ller strips corresponding to the strip l have-not been shown7 since the steps that bring aboutA the condition illustrated in Fig. 5 are preciselyy thesame as those illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. In Fig.

5 the strips are shown as having been welded'to` the blocks at their edges.

Obviously the strips tie together the blocks of each group orv set into a single rigid die member.

While I have illustrated and described with particularityI the preferred method of building up only two kinds of' dies, I do not wish to be limited to the details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover every method and form of die coming within the definition of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

l.. The method of producing working face plates for complementary forming dies, which comprises the casting of rough complementary metal blocksof the proper shape, and forcing said blocks together under heavy pressure while having between their die faces a stack of sheets comprising upper and lower sheets of soft metal, such as lead, and intermediate sheets including sheets of hard ductile-metal in contact with the. lead sheets.

2. The method of producing working face plates for complementary forming dies, which comprises the casting of rough complementary metalbloclrs of. the proper shape, and forcingsaid blocks together under heavy pressure while having between their die faces a stack of: sheets comprising upper and lower sheets of soft metal; such as lead, and more than twointermediate sheets of hard ductile steel.

3. The method of producing. workingv face.

plates for complementary forming dies, which comprises the casting of rough complementary metal blocks of the proper shape,I and forcing said blocks together under heavy pressure while. having between their die faces a stack of sheets conssting of upper and lower sheets of soft metal, such as lead, and intermediate sheets consisting of a group the combined thicknesses of which is equal to the thickness of the panels to be worked in the dies lying between a pair of sheets of hard ductile metal that are to form the faces of the dies.

4. The method of producing working face plates for complementary forming dies, which comprises the casting of rough complementary metal blocks of the proper shape, and forcing said `blocks together under heavy pressure while lying between Sheets of soft metal, such as lead, and having between their die faces a stack of sheets comprising upper and lower sheets of soft metal, such as lead, and intermediate sheets of hard ductile metal spaced apart by interposed sheet material.

5. The method of .producing complementary forming dies, which comprises the casting of rough complementary metal blocks of the proper shape, and forcing said blocks together under heavy pressure while having between their die faces a stack of sheets comprising upper and lower sheets of soft metal, such as lead, and intermediate sheets of hard ductile metal held apart by spacing material, and then welding together each block and the edges of the nearest sheet of hard metal.

6. The method of producing working face plates for elongated complementary forming dies which consists in casting two sets of rough metal blocks of the proper shape to cause the blocks of one set to produce one of the die members in rudimentary form when placed end to end and the blocks of the other set to produce in rudimentary form the other die when they are placed end to end, and forcing the dies in such rudimentary forms together under heavy pressure while having between their die faces a stack of sheets as long as the die and comprising upper and lower sheets of soft metal, such as lead, and intermediate sheets of hard ductile metal held apart by spacing sheet material.

7. The method of producing complementary forming dies which comprises the casting of rough complementary metal blocks of the proper shape, forcing said blocks together under heavy pressure while having between their die faces a stack of sheets comprising upper and lower sheets of soft metal, such as lead, and intermediate sheets including sheets of hard ductile metal in contact with the lead sheets, and then fastening each of said 'sheets of hard ductile metal to the corresponding die block.

8. The method of producing complementary forming dies which comprises the casting of rough complementary metal blocks of the proper shape, forcing said blocks together under heavy pressure while having between their die faces a stack of sheets comprising upper and lower sheets of soft metal, such as lead, and intermediate sheets including sheets of hard ductile metal in contact with the lead sheets, and then welding the edges of each of said sheets of hard ductile metal to the corresponding die block.

9. The method of producing complementary forming dies, which comprises the casting of rough complementary metal blocks of the proper shape, forcing said blocks together under heavy pressure while having between their die faces a stack lof sheets consisting of upper and lowerl sheets of soft metal, such as lead, and intermediate sheets consisting of a group the combined thickness of which is equal to the thickness of the panels tol be worked in the dies lying between a pair of sheets of hard ductile metal that are to form the faces of the dies, and fastening each of said sheets of hard ductile metal to the corresponding block.

l0. The method of producing complementary forming dies, which comprises the casting of rough complementary metal blocks of the proper shape, forcing said blocks together under heavy pressure while having between their die faces a stack of .sheets consisting of upper and lower sheets of soft metal, such as lead, and intermediate sheets consisting of a group the combined thickness of which is equal to the thickness of the panels to be worked in the dies lying between a pair of sheets of hard ductile metal that are to form the faces of the dies, and welding each of said sheets of hard ductile metal at its edges to the corresponding block.

11. The method of producing working face plates for elongated complementary forming dies which consists in casting two sets of rough metal blocks of the proper shapes to cause the blocks of one set to produce one of the die members in rudimentary form when placed end to end and the blocks of the other set to produce in rudimentary form the other die when they are placed end to end, forcing the dies in such rudimentary forms together under heavy pressure while having between their die faces a stack of sheets as long as the die and comprising upper and lower sheets of soft metal, such as lead, and

an intermediate layer containing two sheets of hard ductile metal engaged respectively with the said upper and lower sheets of soft metal.

12. The method of producing working face plates for a forming die which consists in casting a rough metal block of the proper shape, placing against the die face. of such block a sheet of soft metal, such as lead, and an overlying sheet of hard ductile metal, and applying pressure to mold said sheets into intimate engagement with said die face.

13. The method of producing a forming die which consists in casting a rough metal block of the proper shape, placing against the die face of such block a sheet of soft metal, such as lead, and an overlying sheet of hard ductile metal, applying pressure to mold said sheets into intimate engagement with said die face, and then fastening said sheet of hard ductile metal to said block.

14. The method of producing a forming die which consists in casting a rough metal block of the proper shape, placing against the die face of such block a sheet of soft metal, such as lead, and an overlying sheet of hard ductile metal, applying pressure to mold said sheets into intimate engagement with said die face, and then welding the edge portions of said sheet of hard ductile metal to said block.

l5. The method of producing working face plates for dies, which comprises the casting of rough complementary metal blocks of the proper shapes, interposing between the blocks a stack of sheets, including sheets whose combined thickness equals the thickness of the panels to be worked in the dies lying between a pair of smooth hard ductile sheets, and forcing the blocks tcgether under heavy pressure.

16. The method of producing working face l platesaforffdies which consists'in casting two sets of'blooks fof: thel proper shapesizo cause `the blocks oil-.one set tcrfform a," rudimentary die member when-'1 placed encito'end;` andithe blocks of rr w otherfsetf to rfrm a. complementary rudimentary diemember whenplaoed'end to end, interposing betweensaidssets. of b1ockswhi1e the blocks in eachlare au'l'angevdend;7 to end, a; stack of long; sheetsincluding sheets .Whosecombined thickness'.-

equals ythetl'iickness of! the panelsV to lbe .worked'in the dies f lying;V between v a; pair of .smoothzductile hairdl sheets, .and forcing' the twciA sets of'.v blocks? together: under heavyv pressure.=.

' GEORGE,R.1MEYERCORD. 

